- a strengthening Hurricane Ida bears high winds and the likelihood of flooding rain as it heads for the Louisiana coast
- companies evacuated oil and gas platforms south of Louisiana ahead of the hurricane
- a far greater worry was potential damage to refineries and petrochemical plants in its projected path from flooding and storm surge
Companies evacuated oil and gas platforms south of Louisiana ahead of Hurricane Ida but a far greater worry was potential damage to refineries and petrochemical plants in its projected path from flooding and storm surge says an article on Abc News.
Hurricane headed towards the coast
A strengthening Hurricane Ida, bearing high winds and the likelihood of flooding rain as it heads for the Louisiana coast, could damage the energy-heavy Gulf Coast economy and potentially have economic consequences well beyond the region.
Economic consequences
Nearly 300 offshore platforms — or half the manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico — were evacuated ahead of the storm, their production temporarily halted, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on its website Saturday. Floating rigs also cleared out. In all, more than 80% of Gulf oil and gas production halted, the agency said.
Major concern
But a potentially more serious concern was the fate of refineries and petrochemical plants along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans in or near the projected path of a storm whose maximum sustained winds were expected to reach 130 mph (209 kph) at anticipated landfall late Sunday.
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Source: Abc News
